Metamorphose
by Ranunculus
Summary: All the other girls liked the color pink, and pop music, and Sasuke Uchiha, so it only makes sense for Hinata to like those things, too… right? AU High School fic
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note: **This is an AU High School fic. There will also probably be some OC's in it as well. Just warning you. If you don't like that, then… well, don't read.

This story will contain everything that goes on in high school, and I _mean_ everything. Underage drinking, smoking, all that illegal goodness. If you want to read it still, then enjoy.

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_All the other girls liked the color pink, and pop music, and Sasuke Uchiha, so it only makes sense for Hinata to like those things, too… right?_

**Metamorphose**

_Chapter One_

Hello. My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I am a junior at Konoha High, and I do not have a boyfriend. I live with my father, younger sister, and older cousin. I do not have a car, though I do have my license. My favorite color is… actually purple. I like purple for some reason. It's a nice color. I also like vanilla ice cream and steamed white rice. Something about it is very soothing to me. My favorite kind of animal is a panda bear, and I love going to the zoo to see them. I do not have any pets, though I do wish my father would allow me to have one.

When I grow up I think I want to be a nurse. I enjoy helping people and am very kind. I try to be nice to everyone I meet… but sometimes I can't help but dislike someone. Like my cousin for instance…

"_Hinata_! Hurry the hell up, would you?! If I'm late because your _stupid_ hair isn't done you can _walk_ your sorry ass to school for the rest of the year for all I care!" I cringed as Neji's very real threat reached my ears. It's not that my hair wasn't _done_… I just wasn't ready for school again.

It's the first day of school, you see. I am really nervous because I'll have all new classes this year, which means I'll be on a completely different side of the campus than I was last year.

"Okay! I am now walking out the door, Hinata!" Neji's being awfully loud this morning. "Have fun walking to school!"

"No, Neji! Wait, I'm coming!" I heard the door slam and nearly tripped down my stairs to get to the passenger side door in time before Neji started rolling down the driveway.

"'Bout time." He muttered and backed into the trash can. Neji really did abuse his car… He said a curse word that I didn't quite catch and shifted into park. "Go fix the trash can, Hinata." I looked at him a little incredulously.

"You won't leave me?" He gave me an annoyed look.

"Hurry up and do it and I _might_ not." He looked at me through narrowed eyes and I prayed that he was joking. I got out swiftly and cleaned up _his_ mess. I left the door open just in case he really was planning on leaving me, though.

When I got back in the car he scoffed and we took off. The school was only about a mile and a half away… so it wouldn't be terrible walking to school, but that's not something I'd like to do on the first day. Before Neji got his car, we used to have to walk to school and I guess I would complain sometimes about my shoes so Neji would have to carry me. But finally he got sick of it and just told me to take my shoes off. So I did. Then on our way home a strange dog approached us. Neji told me to throw my shoe at it. So I did. I completely missed the dog and Neji laughed. The dog sniffed my shoe, grabbed it and ran off. I have never seen that dog or that shoe since.

"What's your problem anyway?" Neji asked somewhat rudely after a while and I sighed.

"I guess I'm nervous." He looked at me from the corner of his eye and sighed.

"Well, don't be. Everyone you knew last year is still going to be there, alright?" I nodded and a small smile crept onto my face as I realized Neji was trying to console me.

Maybe he wasn't such a huge jerk after all…

* * *

"There _she_ is…" Sakura Haruno heard their whispering. She always heard it. She simply chose to ignore it. To store away all the rage it gave her and save it for the day she snapped and went postal on all of their asses. "Ugh, look at her thighs jiggle."

"What a fatass."

"I know, right? Such a lardass. Did you hear how many guys she fucked over the summer?"

"Oh, I know! Like seventeen?"

"I heard it was, like, twenty, including some older guy."

"No way! What a _whore_."

"Total skank."

"Major slut." Sakura glared at some probably innocent freshman trying to figure out their schedule and walked faster. She was sick of all of their lies. Who was saying this shit about her, anyway? What had she ever done to deserve this bullshit? She was so sick of these wenches talking about her like they knew her. _They're_ the backstabbing _whores_, not her. Sakura was just waiting. One day, she swore, she would go nuts and kill _at least_ one of them.

* * *

"So, Sasuke, what'd you do yesterday?" Karin asked, sipping iced coffee through a straw. Sasuke ignored her for the most part. He didn't really like Karin, honestly. She was too… needy. She always needed to be by him and know where he was. She always acted like everything concerning him was her business.

And it wasn't.

"Bet he wanked off to his little girly magazines, ha! Bet you wish you could have helped with that, huh, Karin?" Suigetsu muttered in Karin's ear and she cooed.

"Hmmm, Sasuke whenever you need a hand… or a mouth… or anything else… You know I--"

"Shut up." He was tired of listening to their perverted ways of talking, but they wouldn't leave them alone either. Karin tossed her red hair, looking slightly miffed that he had told her to shut up. Sasuke wasn't really interested in… Karin. At all. He was looking for something a little less… loose and tainted. He was looking for a girl like…

Like that one.

* * *

"Hey, babe!" Naruto cringed when he heard Ino call his "_name_". "So, what class do you have first period?" She asked leaning against his locker. Naruto shrugged.

"Uh… Biology… with Asuma-sensei." Ino nodded, blowing a big pink bubble from her mouth, then sucking it back in and crushing it with her lips.

"I have Biology, too." She grabbed for Naruto's arm. "Walk me." Sometimes he just did not want to be around Ino…

Not that he didn't like her. He liked her a lot as a matter of fact. But sometimes he felt wrong for just using Ino the way he was.

He knew he would never have a meaningful relationship with Ino because he was still hung up over Sakura. Not that he ever had _any_ kind of relationship with Sakura… he could dream.

But then he remembered why Ino was with him and he felt less guilty.

Ino didn't care about him either.

She had her eyes on someone else, just like he did. Naruto knew it just as well as Ino did. But did that change things?

No. Of course not.

They continued to live their sorry twisted little lies, pretending they were happy and in love, and that they wanted each other. They would continue to live these hurtful falsities until it ate away at their very core, vying for the attention of another, knowing there was extremely little chance their real love would ever look their way, let alone give them the time of day.

Naruto _wanted_ to pretend he could be happy with Ino. Ino _wanted_ to pretend that it didn't bother her that she couldn't have the one thing she truly wanted.

But they couldn't. They were shallow and mean…

…And in love with someone else.

* * *

"I'm not walking in with you." I nodded as Neji got out of the car and walked away. I locked my door and followed his trail, trying to not look like the annoying little cousin lost and confused. Neji was probably just in a hurry to get to class.

"Hinata!" I heard a voice call my name and my day instantly seemed brighter. A warm arm wrapped around my shoulder and encased me in a welcome embrace.

"Kiba! I'm so happy you're here!" He released me and I noted that his hair had really grown from the last time I had seen him. "How was your vacation?"

"Fine, fine. Boring but fine. Too bad you weren't there, you could've kept me company when mom and sis wanted to go on all those awful tours." Kiba has been my best friend since the fifth grade. Well, the closest thing I could have to a best friend considering he was a boy and I was a girl, and you can only get so close to one of the opposite sex without crossing certain boundaries.

"How about your summer, Hinata? Were you lonely without me? I see your hair's gotten longer." He seemed to size me up and I knew my face was hotter than it should have been. "Hmm… but," He grinned, "You're still just the same old Hinata." I smiled back.

I was thankful for Kiba's lack of judgment on the little things, like the fact I had painted my nails yesterday. He may not have noticed, but I painted them a pearly white. It's the second time I wore nail polish.

The first time was in middle school when Ino decided to give me a "makeover". I looked horrible, and Kiba chewed her out for it. Ino of course smacked him for getting in her face about it, but… either way, I hadn't really ever worn any kind of makeup since.

"How's Akamaru? Did he enjoy the hotel you sent him to?" I asked and Kiba's face immediately went sour.

"No! He was so lonely without me! I missed him, too! You should've visited him, Hinata." I apologized.

"I didn't know that dogs were allowed visitors."

"Of course they're allowed visitors! People are allowed visitors, aren't they?" I shrugged. I wouldn't argue with Kiba's logic. Not today. I needed an ally and Kiba was it. "So…" I looked at him carefully. I knew what he was about to ask. "Whip it out already." I sighed and revealed what he was looking for.

My class schedule. He immediately snatched it and pulled his out to compare.

"Let's see…" I looked around at the other students and realized that I didn't recognize a lot of faces. It was getting empty and orientation was probably about to start.

"Kiba, we should head to the gym." He started walking, still comparing our schedules and frowned.

"Awww! We only have PE together! And those are separated!" I shrugged.

"There's always lunch…"

"Why did you take art? Didn't you take that freshman year?"

"Well… yes, but I failed freshman year, remember?"

"So you're taking it again?"

"Yes…" Kiba snorted and handed me back my schedule. "What are you taking as an elective?"

"Computer class, of course. Easy as pie. You pretty much just sit on the computer all period and look stuff up."

"I don't think it's that easy… Doesn't Iruka-sensei teach that class?" Kiba froze.

"No way! Really? Man… he's gonna bust me, I know it!"

"Well, Kiba, just do your homework… it's not that hard, I bet. I heard Computer class is just like study hall, only with computers…"

"Yeah, which leads me back to the first question," Kiba stepped in front of me, "Why are you taking _art_?! You've never been good at art, so why not take an easy class and just get it over with?" I snorted.

"Maybe I like art…" Kiba shrugged.

"Oh well… I hope you won't complain if you start failing again." He teased.

"I-I never complain!" Kiba laughed.

"I know, I know. Just messin'. Jeez, Hinata, I really have missed you." To some unknowing onlooker, my relationship with Kiba may seem romantic.

I guarantee you… it's _not_.

Kiba sees me as just another one of the guys…

Like that one time he forgot that I _wasn't_ one of the guys and punched my shoulder a little _too_ hard. Neji hit him even harder then Kiba hit me, but it _still_ didn't bruise like mine did.

Or that other time when Kiba invited me to play Halo at his house. So I showed up, not knowing what Halo was and sat on the couch, _bored_ out of my mind all day because Kiba forgot I didn't _like_ these kinds of video games.

Or that _other _other time when Kiba told me to spend the night at his house, then he started strutting around in his boxers because that's what he would do if I were a guy… either that or he is incredibly shameless.

His sister hit him for that one.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Woo! I finally started this! It's been floating around in my head for a while you see. To be completely honest I started something like this a few years ago, but after rereading it, I decided it was trash and started anew. My old story didn't really have a main character and had a very important OC and I just didn't like it very much. The people were out of character and I really don't like that. So yeah! Here it is! New and very much improved!

Not that you would know since you didn't see the previous piece of crap. Anywho, tell me what you thought. Hinata's the main character, but it can't always just be about her, you know?

Also! That OC I was just talking about… she appears in this story, though much more minor than before. Like, she doesn't even show up for a… long time, actually.

Thanks so much for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Please go vote in my poll if you haven't already. It concerns this story. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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**Metamorphose**

_Chapter Two_

"I hate assemblies." Kiba muttered and I smiled. That was so like him.

"It wasn't _that_bad, Kiba." He scratched his cheek and sighed.

"Well, at least it's over now…" At the moment, Kiba was waiting for me at my locker while I got my biology book. It was passing period and most other people were standing about, talking to friends or trying to figure out where their next class was. I remember those days…

"_Gasp!_It's Sasuke!" Some girl nearby us whispered to another girl who in turn gasped and giggled. Kiba looked up and frowned lightly. There was already enough people around us without the crowd of girls blocking our view.

Well, my view anyway.

I stood on my toes, trying to see what the big deal was. Kiba snorted.

"That kid sure has changed…" I raised a brow, wondering why Kiba was calling Sasuke a kid when they were practically the same age.

"Oh, Sasuke! I would totally have his children…!" One girl sighed and my cheek twitched for some unknown reason.

"Tell me about it… too bad that Karin bitch is always around him…"

"Pssh! Yeah right, I would totally kick that skank's ass!"

"Ha! You would _not_!" I agreed with whoever had said that. Karin was known for being able to handle herself, if anyone wanted proof they only needed to look at Suigetsu's black eye to know the truth…

Kiba made another noise next to me and turned away from the spectacle. "Hinata, you're almost done, right?" I nodded and closed the door, both of us walking through the throng of fan girls and heading into the open space of the hall…

Unfortunately, that also happened to be where Sasuke and his crew were walking. I bumped into Karin and stumbled back a little, my back now against Kiba's chest.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" She sneered at me and I felt like shrinking into a dark corner and staying there.

Karin snarled, "Watch it!" I winced. The girl was scary!

"Don't talk to Hinata like that!" I heard Kiba growl behind me and I tensed. He shouldn't start things, really, especially not for me. I bumped into Karin, I apologized, it should be that simple…

"Excuse me?" Karin snorted and gave me a demeaning look. God, I knew today was going to be a bad one when I realized my favorite jacket wasn't clean. I looked down at the green sleeves covering my arms and tried to hide my humiliation from all of the onlookers known as gossips and fan girls. They were afraid of Karin too and had no right to judge.

"Kiba, it's okay. Just let it go." I whispered to Kiba who, while not facing him, I could feel his upset and frustrated gaze on the back of my head and I shrunk down further.

"But, Hinata…!"

Karin scoffed, "Hmph! Little twat knows her place, you--"

"Karin, that's enough." My eyes shot open and I looked up to see Sasuke's reprimanding gaze on Karin's stunned face.

"B-But, Sasuke…!" He stared at her blankly, "She, I was just…"

"Yeah, Karin. Quit wasting time." A boy I recognized as Sasuke's friend taunted and sneered. Karin's face must have been burning with embarrassment. Sasuke shook his head and continued walking upon hearing the warning bell ring, telling everyone class started in five minutes. Karin sputtered, seemingly frozen as she watched Sasuke's back move on without her. Finally she turned to glare hard at me and ran to catch up with her posse. I shuddered.

"Geez, that girl is such a…" Kiba put a hand on my shoulder, "Let's go Hinata." I nodded mutely and we walked to class in silence. My eyes stayed on the ground in front of me to avoid seeing the faces of those who had witnessed that horribly uncomfortable spectacle.

"Well, Hinata. Here we are." I turned to thank Kiba, but found it hard to look him in the eye. I knew he was glaring at me. "You know," he sighed, "I really wish you would stand up for yourself, Hinata. I don't like you letting them push you around." I nodded and apologized quietly. Kiba sighed again.

I hated disappointing him…

I hated disappointing anyone, really…

"Well, I'll see you at lunch, yeah?" I nodded and he offered me a half smile before jogging off to his class. I turned to face the classroom. The final bell rang as I walked through the door and I cringed realizing Kiba would be late for walking me... I looked around the room for an empty seat and frowned when I saw none. Was that even possible? This is supposed to be my class, there _should_ be a seat for me.

"Oh, Hinata, you're unusually late, well, for you anyway." I turned to see Tenten smiling at me. She's always been nice to me, but I think it's only because she likes my cousin. "Yeah, I think some of the new students got confused with their schedules and just ran into a random classroom. There's always supposed to be spare desks for those, 'just in case' moments." She was the Teacher's Aid, so I trusted her to know these things. "Kakashi-sensei is late, though... I'm surprised he doesn't get fired for it." The students were still chattering amongst themselves, "Lazy son of a--"

"Good morning, students!" At that moment, Kakashi-sensei opened the door and announced loudly, glancing at Tenten, "What was that you were saying before I came in?"

"Nothing, Sensei!" She squeaked hastily and with a nervous laugh she handed Kakashi-sensei a clipboard. "Here's the attendance sheet."

Kakashi-sensei took it, glanced at it, looked up to see the number of students in the classroom, glanced back down at the clipboard and sighed. "Alright, I'm going to do roll call. If I do not call your name, exit my classroom and report to the office."

He started calling out names in that lazy drawl of his and I watched surprised at how many left before he had even finished. By the end of roll call, I think almost ten students had left. "Is that everyone? Well, now that you've all stopped wasting my time, let's start learning."

* * *

"So what do you think about a movie this Friday, babe? I want to see that one romantic comedy starring that one chick." _Yeah, that's the way to specify, babe. I know exactly what you're talking about._ Naruto thought as he dumped the contents of his backpack into the locker he and Ino were supposed to share. "Well, what do you think?"

"Sure, sure." Naruto sighed. Ino always wanted to go out on Fridays... Why not on Saturdays? Or even Sundays? _Because Friday nights are when Shikamaru's working._

"Great." Ino gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then bounded away to wherever it is that Ino goes when she's not hanging onto Naruto. The boy knew about Ino's obssession with their lazy friend, Shikamaru. Just like she knew about his obssession with...

"Oof." Naruto suddenly collided with someone smaller than him, and blanched when he saw who it was. "S-Sakura!"

He reached down to help her up and flinched when she slapped his hand away, "Don't touch me, I don't need your help."

"S-Sorry." Sakura felt guilt when she saw the hur expression on Naruto's face, but she knew _they_ were watching, and if she wasn't careful, there would be all kinds of new rumors floating around the school tomorrow morning.

"I have to go." Sakura hastily said as she hurried past Naruto and around the corner, out of sight. Naruto was left standing there wondering what ever happened to the sweet girl he had been best friends with in middle school.

* * *

"Can you believe that little slut!" Karin hissed, kicking some random car, unsurprised when the alarm didn't go off. "I'll--"

"Why'd you call her a slut?" Suigetsu asked curiously. After all, sluts didn't dress the way that girl did... they dressed the way Karin did.

"B-Because... You saw the way she looked!"

"Being pretty doesn't qualify one to be a slut." Suigetsu retorted.

Karin scoffed, "Well, no duh! If that were the case, everyone would be calling me a slut all the time!" Sasuke and Suigetsu merely stared at her. "You guys are jerks! Besides, whoever said she was pretty!"

"I did."

"Nobody asked you, Suigetsu!" Karin punched his arm. _You just did, though, didn't you Karin?_ Sasuke sighed, wondering why he even hung around these people during lunch.

"Oh, Sasuke! What's wrong? Is Suigetsu getting on your nerves too?" Karin cooed in Sasuke's ear, leaning heavily over his back with her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"He's not a child." Suigetsu was ignored.

"Let's leave him. It could be just you and me. Let's just ditch out on the rest of school, what's the point of going? You're already passing most of your classes..."

Sasuke shoved Karin off of him and stood up from the car he had been leaning against. "Exactly. _Most_ of my classes." He began walking back toward the school, "It's still not good enough."

Suigetsu called after him, "It's not your fault you suck at art!"

Again, he was ignored.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry it took so long for me to update. Anyway… Yay! I'm so glad some people seem to like this! I like writing it, it's pretty fun. But, tell me if you think Hinata's a bit out of character, okay? I'm not sure whether or not I'm crossing some boundaries with her here, and I dislike being terribly out of character, you know?

Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I don't know what you guys will think of this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Metamorphose**

_Chapter Three_

"Hmm, I think I'll have this, and this, and this, and this… ooh! And how could I _not_ have this?"

"Chouji, buddy, I hate to break it to you, but…" Shikamaru glanced a little nervously behind him, "you're kinda holding up the line." The previously oblivious Chouji looked behind Shikamaru at the long line of angry and hungry students shooting him dirty looks. He laughed nervously and hurried to the register. The woman rung up his total and marked it up on his tab. Shikamaru paid for his modest and almost surprisingly healthy lunch before following Chouji to sit at a table filled with teenagers all wearing designer clothing and saying the word "like" every other four words.

"Hey, guys!" Chouji stated, a friendly smile on his face, "Mind if I sit here?" The group of teens stared at him for moments before one boy opened his mouth and scoffed, "Sure go ahead."

As Chouji moved to sit down, the rest of the kids got up and moved to a different table on the other side of the cafeteria. Chouji grinned as he sat down, Shikmaru taking a seat next to him, "Nice work buddy," he muttered under his breath, "works every time." Within seconds Ino and Naruto were sitting at the table with Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Hey, great that you guys snagged a table!" Ino's voice was loud as she took a seat next to Shikamaru while Naruto sat down across from her, watching the way Ino seemed to _accidentally_ brush her arm against Shikamaru three times in one minute. His eye twitched and he hated it. Naruto forced himself to look away and caught sight of another one of their friends.

"Oi! Shino!" Naruto waved the seemingly mute boy down and pulled out a chair for him. "Great to see you, Shino. So… meet any hot girls this summer?" Naruto inwardly smirked as he watched from the corner of his eye his girlfriend smirk angrily. _This is not a healthy relationship._

* * *

Kiba was obviously still upset with me for this morning… Either that or he had to stay a little late after class. If only I could remember what class he was in, I could go check and see if he was still there…! "Should I just go into the lunch room without him…?" Would he get mad at me for not waiting for him?

It was really quiet in the hallways, and only one or two people passed through every now and then… I decided to go without Kiba. I could explain to him later that I couldn't find him… "Maybe he already went in without me?" I sighed. One of my best friends was angry at me. How depressing.

I bumped into something and fell down, deciding then that walking with your eyes closed is dangerous. "Ow…"

"Grr. Watch it!" I flinched, only catching a flash of pink before I started to pick up my books that had spilled out of my bag when I fell.

"I-I'm sorry!" When I get home, I swear I am going to burn this sweater.

"Oh, geez…" I heard the person say as they bent down and helped pick my things up. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." They handed me my History text book and I noticed the pink nail polish.

"Thank you." We stood up together and I finally met her gaze. It was Sakura Haruno! She used to be nice to me in middle school, but… things change.

"Don't mention it. Bye." She walked away and I watched her long enough to notice her go into the restroom. Sakura was pretty and thin, but a lot of people said mean things about her behind her back a lot. I think she knows about it. I suppose that would give anyone reason enough to be defensive and want to be alone all the time. She's probably going to just sit in the bathroom all alone…

"Should I go keep her company?" …Then again, maybe not. What if she's not just sitting in there?

_Gasp! _What if Sakura's anorexic! What if she's bulimic? Should I go in there and tell her to stop? What should I do? Oh… "What should I do?"

"Geez, Hinata. You can't even wait for me? I probably wasted five minutes looking for you." Kiba walked up behind me, from the cafeteria. He must have gone in there looking for me. "You're missing lunch, come on!" Kiba didn't hesitate to grab my shoulder and pull me into line with him. I guess he wasn't made with me after all. I smiled up at him and he grinned back. It's not like Kiba to hold grudges, anyway.

* * *

Sakura Haruno isn't bulimic, nor is she anorexic. She was mildly anorexic in middle school, but at that age, what teenage girl wasn't? _I feel bad for snapping at Hinata like that…_ She thought as she played with water in the sink. She sighed, then wrinkled her nose. The bathroom was never a pleasant place to spend lunch. Why was she so afraid to go eat in the lunchroom? Was she afraid of those girls?

"I'm afraid of myself." Sakura muttered just before the door opened and a group of girls walked in. Two brunettes and a redhead. Sakura frowned as they sneered at her.

"Well, look who we have here. Our local high school whore, Sakura Haruno!" The two brunettes tittered and giggled as their pack leader smirked at Sakura, waiting for some kind of comeback?

_Whore?_ If Sakura wasn't mistaken, this girl's name was Ai, and she's gone through five boyfriends in two years, all because she cheated on each one of them. _Two-faced._ Sakura spat in her mind. _Just walk away._

But as she tried to do so, Ai stuck a foot out and tripped her, sending Sakura into the paper towel dispenser. She winced as she felt something sharp graze her forehead, then winced again as her knees hit the hard floor.

Ai and her crew just couldn't stop laughing.

Sakura cringed as she felt something wet slowly trickle down her face. "Gawd, not only are you a slut, but a klutz too? Good thing you're used to being on your knees, right Haruno?"

Something inside Sakura broke. Ai didn't have the time to stop laughing before Sakura's fist smashed into her skull.

* * *

The halls were relatively quiet, only the quiet murmur of the cafeteria could be heard as Sasuke decided to stop by his locker to exchange some books. There was a strange sound of laughter coming from the girl's restroom a few lockers down from his and he chose to ignore it. Only seconds later did that laughter turn into screams. Two brunette girls ran out of the bathroom hysterically. _Did they see a spider?_ Sasuke wondered wryly as he made eye contact with one of them.

"Sasuke! Sasuke you have to stop her! She's crazy!"

The other one piped up, "Hurry or she'll kill Ai!" Sasuke wondered what they could possibly be talking about and was shocked at the sight before him and ran to pull Sakura off of Ai's nearly limp body. The two brunettes ran into the bathroom to help the sobbing girl up. They tried to soothe her, supporting her the best they could as they slowly made their way down to the office.

"Ai's dad's a lawyer! Say goodbye to everything you own and say hello to the streets, you crazy bitch!"

"Then you can put your whore skills to good use, _right_ Haruno?"

_Even after all that…? _Sasuke watched the girls turn the corner toward the nurse's office, his hands still holding Sakura's wrists. The girl was shaking.

"Sa… Sasuke?" Sakura turned to face him, her eyes were bloodshot and tears flowed freely down her face. Scratches littered her face, courtesy of Ai's manicured nails. A larger cut on her forehead still looked fresh.

Sakura began crying into Sasuke's chest, clinging to the back of his shirt…

Slowly Sasuke held her back and Sakura began crying even harder.

Neither one of them paid attention to the crowd that was gathering around them, or to the shouting voices of teachers, telling everyone to get back.

There was nothing to see here.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I really hesitated at that part with Sakura and Ai. I kept thinking, "Should I? Should I not?" I wasn't sure exactly if it was appropriate, but then decided to go with it anyway. It's going to open up some new opportunities for the characters, and it was bound to happen eventually. "But it's only the first day of school!" Perhaps, but Sakura's been putting up with this crap for much longer than that.

No, Sakura's not some crazy psycho who's only going to get worse from here. I'm not trying to turn her into a bad character or a bad person. Don't forget, she was crying when she realized what she did.

I don't know why I'm getting defensive over this. Sorry? I'm just afraid that everyone's going to be like, "OMG I can't believe you made Sakura do that! She would never do that!" or some other inane thing like that. And then you'll stop reading my story and then I'll be sad… so… yeah.

Thank you so much for reading and please, please, please tell me your thoughts!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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"What the hell's going on out there?" Kiba muttered as half the cafeteria spilled out into the hall to see what the screaming was about.

"Looks like it came from the girl's room." Naruto mentioned as he stood on a chair.

Shikamaru scoffed, "Some girl probably freaked out over a spider." He made a move to go sit down again. I wondered if maybe it had anything to do with-

"It's Ai!" Naruto exclaimed, "Geez! Somebody messed her up good... _Damn_." He hissed through his teeth and shook his head. Several other students started whispering loudly. "Looks like a fight went down."

"Man, Ai is _tore up_."

"Wow, who did it? What happened?"

I couldn't see anything, I made a move to stand on my chair too when Naruto gasped and nearly fell from his.

"It's Sasuke! Sasuke and Sakura!" He immediately jumped off the chair and dove through the crowd, shoving people as he needed to. Kiba and Ino quickly followed suit. Shino also disappeared into the crowd.

"Aw, man. What?" Shikamaru looked at Chouji, "Should we go try to see what's up?"

Chouji looked almost torn between his lunch and his friends. He frowned. "It's probably just a false alarm."

"I can go see what happened," the two looked curiously at me, "stay here and enjoy lunch. I'll be right back." Shikamaru nodded, a small smirk on his face. "Be careful."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that until I actually started to push my way through the crowd. So many kids were still standing, ignoring the shouting narcs to go back to lunch, I couldn't even tell if Sasuke and Sakura were still in the hall. I was lucky enough to find a path were students had eventually taken their seats again. I skipped the last few feet and saw Kakashi-sensei with his arm around Sakura, guiding her in the direction of the office, I assumed. Naruto, Kiba, and Ino were standing next to Sasuke talking.

"How bad was it then?" Naruto was asking. Sasuke shook his head.

"See for yourself." He pointed in the direction of the girl's bathroom. Ino moved to hold the door open as we all peered inside. There wasn't nearly as much blood as I expected there to be honestly, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Kiba turned to me, "Hinata, what happened with Shika and Cho?"

"I told them to stay back and hold the fort." Kiba smiled and ruffled my hair a little. He didn't say anything else but turned his attention back to Naruto and Sasuke who were talking again.

Naruto was speaking, "What did Kakashi say to you?"

Sasuke shrugged and tried to look indifferent, "He said they would call me into the office later for 'questioning'. Me and anyone else who was apart of it."

"So pretty much just you and those girls, right? Ino asked.

Sasuke shook his head, "Not quite. Hinata Hyuuga will be called into questioning also."

"What! Why?" Kiba immediately jumped on him.

"Yeah! Hinata was with us!" Naruto too.

Sasuke shrugged again, "Well a student said they saw her talking to Sakura before she went into the bathroom, which was only a few minuted before the fight. It could have somehow been a setup."

"Oh shut up, Sasuke. You know Hinata isn't that kind of person." Ino admonished, flipping her hair. Most of the students had gone back to lunch. Sasuke seemed more than a little annoyed that Ino would say that to him. He frowned, "Look, you asked me what Kakashi said and I told you. Get over it." He began walking away and Naruto called out to him.

"Well, thanks anyway, Sasuke!" He sighed and began walking back to the table. Kiba, Ino and I looked at each other before following him.

"Sounds like you're in a hot mess, Hinata." Ino mentioned, giving me a sympathetic look. "That sucks. Do you think they'll call your dad?" I shrugged. I hoped they wouldn't bother. In the past when things like these would happen, (cases where they would have to call home, and normally because I was sick, not because of a fight), and they tried to call home, my father wouldn't answer because of work. And later in the evening he would call the school upset that they had bothered calling at all. I was old enough to take care of myself, he told them. "Next time just let her sign herself out and go home. If it's that bad, send Neji home with her." I sighed.

"Hey, buck up kiddo. It wasn't your fault. You were just an innocent bystander in this case." Kiba put an arm around my shoulder and Ino grabbed my hand, "Yeah! They'll probably just ask a few questions and that's it! It's not like you know anything about the fight, right?" I nodded and felt relieved as we sat down at the table. Naruto hadn't said anything for a long time.

"What were you talking to Sakura about before?" He asked. The table grew quiet and background noise seemed to die down although students hadn't stopped talking. I looked at Naruto but he was facing the table in front of him. "Hinata. I asked, what were you talking to Sakura about?"

My mouth twitched into a frown. "Nothing. We bumped into each other and that was it. She didn't say anything to me." His eyes seemed to drop even further and I wondered why it seemed so important to him. I chanced a look at Ino and she was almost glaring at him, or rather the same place he was staring at. "I need to go." Ino stood up and left, not even taking her trash. Naruto sighed deeply and his head drooped. "Me too." He gathered his and Ino's litter and walked away.

Shikamaru stared after them both, sighed, and scratched his head before asking, "So, what happened?"

Kiba went on to explain everything as I went to take a bite of my chicken strips which had now gone cold. I put the food back down.

I had lost my appetite.

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Author's Note: Short chapter, I know, but at least it's something! Uh, heh, heeeeeyy guys? Long-ass-time-no-see... I'll try to get more writing in for you guys okay? And for myself. Hope you enjoyed. Now I just have to find the motivation and the inspiration for my other stories. D; Wish me luck.


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